Review

The Dutch metallers of Legion Of The Damned have always had the tradition of releasing their new album around the winter holidays. That is quite a feat, as their music is anything but holy. Whatever they release, it is always a real mix between thrash and death metal, and of course heavy as ***.

The same applies for Descent Into Chaos, aptly named after the intro of the album. The two things that spring to mind immediately is that the sound is familiar as always and that they seem to be getting a bit older. I say that because the tempo has dropped a bit on most of the songs, allowing them to breathe a little more. What you get to hear then will take your breath away, because this is as heavy as a hippopotamus and as subtle as a rhinoceros on a stampede.

The pace these guys operate at now only makes the riffs come out even stronger, makes you tremble in your seat, at the same time making you wonder whether your windows will be able to take the pressure of what is coming out of your speakers. Thank God they do speed at times, preventing the album from becoming monotonous. Otherwise I might have crumbled under the heaviness of the riffs the guitars are spawning.

Soundwise there is nothing to complain about and the songs on offer are all of a high standard. Of course the rhythm section of the band and the vocal chords complete the picture. The slightly high pitched grunt of Maurice and his vocal lines fit quite well into this tightly knit album, making a duck’s arse jealous! Descent Into Chaos is another example of how Dutch extreme metal is fighting at the front of the metal wars, not at the back!